Cardinal Timothy Dolan joined hundreds of parishioners at Nativity of Our Blessed Lady Church in the Eastchester section of the Bronx for an exuberant celebration of the parish’s 100^th anniversary.

Nativity of Our Blessed Lady, which merged with Holy Rosary Church in 2015, is one of the Archdiocese of New York’s most diverse parish communities, with parishioners from three continents.

Cardinal Dolan addressed and welcomed the unity of Our Blessed Lady’s diversity in his homily: “We are one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church,” he said, referring to the declaration from the Nicene Creed, reminding the faithful that all are welcome in God’s Church.

Parts of the Mass were celebrated in three languages: the liturgy in English and Spanish, and much of the music sung in Igbo, a West African language spoken in Nigeria, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea.

Many parishioners in the Saturday vigil Mass wore their native dress or carried flags from their countries of origin.

After the end of Mass, Cardinal Dolan, concelebrants including Father Cyprian Onyeihe, Our Blessed Lady’s administrator, and Father Dennis Williams, pastor of Holy Rosary Church, along with hundreds of parishioners, walked to the church hall to continue the celebration, complete with a buffet dinner, a DJ, and dancing.

Cardinal Dolan posed for scores of photos before finally being called to the front of the hall to say grace, which he did in Spanish. Representatives of the parish’s three language groups then brought him gifts to commemorate his visit, baskets of snacks and drinks representative of their respective cultures. Igbo-speaking parishioners also presented Cardinal Dolan with a blue, lion-patterned chasuble and a fan inscribed with his name. The parish as a whole also gave him a chalice inscribed with the name of his late mother underneath its base.

Originally built in 1924, the church’s first structure was destroyed in a 1958 fire. The current building opened in 1969.

“The demographics of this church have changed. Originally, it was Italians and Germans; now, we have the Spanish and English from different countries, along with Jamaicans and people from different Caribbean countries. We have parishioners from South and Central American countries, and now the newcomers from African countries, Gambia, the Ivory Coast, and Nigeria,” Father Onyeihe told The Good Newsroom in an interview.

Our Blessed Lady offers weekly Masses in three languages to serve its different language groups: English, Spanish, and Igbo.